- Johannes Bobrowski (1917–1965)
- Heinrich Böll (1917–1985), Nobel Prize for Literature (1972)
- Alfred Döblin (1878–1957), author of Berlin Alexanderplatz
- Paul Ernst (1866–1933)
- Hans Magnus Enzensberger (1929–2022)
- Jenny Erpenbeck (born 1967)
- Hans Fallada (1893–1947)
- Theodor Fontane (1819–1898)
- Julia Franck (born 1970)
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832), polymath
- Günter Grass (1927–2015), Nobel Prize for Literature (1999)
- Gerhart Hauptmann (1862-1946), Nobel Prize for Literature (1912)
- Helene Hegemann (born 1992)
- Wolfgang Herrndorf (1965–2013)
- Stefan Heym (1913–2001)
- Wolfgang Hildesheimer (1916–1991)
- Hermann Hesse (1877–1962), Nobel Prize for Literature (1946)
- Uwe Johnson (1934–1984)
- Ernst Jünger (1895–1998)
- Marie Luise Kaschnitz (1901–1974)
- Erich Kästner (1899–1974)
- Daniel Kehlmann (born 1975)
- Heinrich von Kleist (1777–1811)
- Siegfried Lenz (1926–2014)
- Andreas Mand (born 1959)
- Heinrich Mann (1871–1950)
- Klaus Mann (1906–1949)
- Thomas Mann (1875–1955), Nobel Prize for Literature (1929)
- Eduard Mörike (1804–1875)
- Sten Nadolny (born 1942), author of The Discovery of Slowness
- Erich Maria Remarque (1898–1970), author of Im Westen nichts Neues, or All Quiet on the Western Front (1929)
- Bernhard Schlink (born 1944)
- W. G. Sebald (1944–2001)
- Anna Seghers (1900–1983)
- Theodor Storm (1817–1888)
- Patrick Süskind (born 1949), author of Perfume
- Martin Walser (1927–2023)
- Peter Weiss (1916–1982)
- Christa Wolf (1929–2011)
- Arnold Zweig (1887–1968)
- Zoltán Ambrus (1861–1932)
- Mihály Babits (1883–1941)
- Zsófia Bán (born 1957)
- Miklós Bánffy (1873–1950)
- Ágota Bozai (born 1965)
- György Dalos (born 1943)
- Anna Dániel (1908–2003)
- József Eötvös (1813–1871)
- Péter Esterházy (1950–2016)
- Klára Fehér (1919–1996)
- István Fekete (1900–1970), author of Vuk
- Géza Gárdonyi (1863–1922)
- Ágnes Gergely (born 1933)
- Ferenc Herczeg (1863–1954)
- Éva Janikovszky (1926–2003), also children's writer
- Mór Jókai (1825–1904), foremost 19th-century novelist
- Margit Kaffka (1880–1918)
- Frigyes Karinthy (1887–1938), author of science-fiction novels
- József Kármán (1768–1795)
- Zsigmond Kemény (1814–1875)
- Rivka Keren (born 1946), writing also in Hebrew
- Imre Kertész (1929–2016), Nobel Prize for Literature (2002)
- János Kodolányi (1899–1969)
- György Konrád (1933–2019)
- Károly Kós (1883–1977)
- Dezső Kosztolányi (1885–1936)
- László Krasznahorkai (born 1954)
- Gyula Krúdy (1878–1933)
- Ervin Lázár (1936–2006), author of children's novels
- Laura Leiner (born 1985), author of young-adult series
- Iván Mándy (1918–1995), author of children's novels
- Sándor Márai (1900–1989)
- Ferenc Molnár (1878–1952), author of The Paul Street Boys
- Ferenc Móra (1879–1934)
- Zsigmond Móricz (1879–1942), foremost novelist of the earlier 20th century
- Kálmán Mikszáth (1847–1910)
- Terézia Mora (born 1971), writing in German
- Péter Nádas (born 1942)
- Borbála Nádasdy (born 1939)
- László Németh (1901–1975)
- Emma Orczy (Baroness Orczy, 1865–1947), writing in English
- Géza Ottlik (1912–1990)
- Jenő Rejtő (1905–1943)
- Henriett Seth F. (born 1980), science-fiction author
- Magda Szabó (1917–2007), author of The Door
- Sándor Szathmári (1897–1974), author of Kazohinia
- Noémi Szécsi (born 1976)
- Júlia Székely (1906–1986)
- Mária Szepes (1908–2007)
- Antal Szerb (1901–1945), author of Journey by Moonlight
- Edina Szvoren (born 1974)
- Áron Tamási (1897–1966)
- Kata Tisza (born 1980)
- Cécile Tormay (1876–1937)
- Albert Wass (1908–1998)
- Aravind Adiga (born 1974), English
- Ahmed Ali (1910–1994), English, Urdu
- Mulk Raj Anand (1905–2004), English
- Chaudhry Afzal Haq (1891–1942), Urdu, English, Hindi
- Manik Bandopadhyay (1908–1956), Bengali
- Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay (1899–1970), Bengali
- Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay (1894–1950), Bengali
- Tarashankar Banerjee (1898–1971), Bengali
- Ratan Lal Basu (born 1948), English, Bengali
- D. R. Bendre (1896–1981), Kannada
- Ramavriksha Benipuri (1899–1968), Hindi
- Ruskin Bond (born 1934), English
- Buddhadeb Bosu (1908–1974), Bengali, English
- Nirendranath Chakravarty (1924–2018), Bengali
- Vikram Chandra (born 1961), English
- Bankim Chandra Chatterjee (1838–1894), Bengali
- Upamanyu Chatterjee (born 1959), English
- Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay (1876–1938), Bengali
- Amit Chaudhuri (born 1962), English
- Rajkamal Chaudhary (1929–1967), Hindi
- Jibanananda Das (1899–1954), Bengali
- Manoj Das (1934–2021), Oriya
- David Davidar (born 1958)
- Shobhaa De (born 1948), English
- Anita Desai (born 1937), English
- Kiran Desai (born 1971), English
- P. L. Deshpande (1919–2000) Marathi
- Eunice De Souza (1940–2017), English
- Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (born 1956)
- Michael Madhusudan Dutta (1824–1873), Bengali, English, French
- Lalon Fakir (c. 1772–1890), Bengali
- Sunil Gangopadhyay (1934–2012), Bengali
- Amitav Ghosh (born 1956), English
- Subodh Ghosh (1909–1980), Bengali
- Mir Mosharraf Hossain (1847–1912) Bengali
- Raj Kamal Jha (born 1966), English
- Amita Kanekar (born 1965), English
- Umar Alisha Kavisekhara (1885–1945), Telugu
- Datta Raghunath Kavthekar (1901–1979), Marathi
- Prakash Kona (born 1967)
- Kuvempu (1904–1994), Kannada
- Jhumpa Lahiri (born 1967)
- Pankaj Mishra (born 1969)
- Piyush Jha (living), English
- Rohinton Mistry (born 1952), English
- Narendranath Mitra (1916–1975), Bengali
- Gopinath Mohanty (1914–1991), Oriya
- Jagadish Mohanty (1951–2013), Odia
- Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay (born 1935), Bengali
- Kiran Nagarkar (1942–2019) Marathi, English
- R. K. Narayan (1906–2001), English
- Bhalchandra Nemade (born 1938), Marathi
- Dibyendu Palit (1939–2019), Bengali, English
- Surender Mohan Pathak (born 1940), Hindi
- Jaishankar Prasad (1889–1937), Hindi
- Munshi Premchand (1880–1936), Hindi
- Tushar Raheja (born 1984), English
- Indra Bahadur Rai (1927–2018) Nepali
- Rajashree, English
- Raja Rao (1908–2006), English
- Satyajit Ray (1921–1992), Bengali
- Arundhati Roy (born 1961), English
- Rammohan Roy (1772–1833), Bengali, English, Sanskrit
- Salman Rushdie (born 1947), English
- Sarojini Sahoo (born 1956) Odia
- Rahul Sankrityayan (1893–1963), Hindi, Bhojpuri, Tibetan, Sanskrit
- Vilas Sarang (1942–2015) Marathi, English
- D. Selvaraj (1938–2009), Tamil
- Samar Sen (1916–1987), Bengali, English
- Fakir Mohan Senapati (1843–1918), Oriya
- Durjoy Datta (born 1987), English
- Vikram Seth (born 1952), author of A Suitable Boy
- Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) Bengali also poet, painter, philosopher & Nobel laureate
- Shashi Tharoor (born 1956), English
- Chetan Bhagat (born 1971), English
- Rajeeva Nayan Pathak (born 1972), English
- Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820–1891) Bengali
- Vijayakrishnan (born 1952), Malayalam
- Kalki Krishnamurthy (1899–1954), Tamil
- Sujatha (1935–2008), Tamil language
- Lakshminath Bezbaroa (1864–1938), Assamese
- Mamoni Raisom Goswami (1942–2011), Assamese, English
- Bhabendra Nath Saikia (1932–2003), Assamese
- Hiren Gohain (born 1939), Assamese
- Nabakanta Barua (1926–2002), Assamese
- Bishnu Prasad Rabha, Assamese
- Kulpreet Yadav (born 1968), English
- M. T. Vasudevan Nair (born 1933), Malayalam
- Sudha Murthy (born 1950), Kannada, Marathi, English
- Atul Kumar Rai (born 1992), Hindi
- Shmuel Yosef Agnon (1888–1970), Nobel Prize winner; The Bridal Canopy, Yesteryear
- Aharon Appelfeld, Badenheim 1939
- Naomi Frankel (1918–2009), Shaul ve-Yohannah (Saul and Joanna) trilogy
- David Grossman (born 1954), See Under: Love, The Smile of the Lamb
- Gail Hareven
- Yoram Kaniuk (1930–2013), His Daughter
- Amos Oz (1939–2018), Black Box, My Michael
- Yaakov Shabtai (1934–1981), Past Continuous
- Meir Shalev (born 1948), The Blue Mountain, Esau
- Michal Govrin (born 1960), The Name, Snapshots
- Chaim Walder (born 1969), Kids Speak
- Avraham B. Yehoshua (born 1936), A Late Divorce, Mr. Mani
- Giulio Angioni (1939–2017)
- Riccardo Bacchelli (1891–1985)
- Alessandro Baricco (born 1958)
- Giorgio Bassani (1916–2000)
- Stefano Benni, journalist, poet, novelist, Terra (1985) is most popular work in English
- Alberto Bevilacqua (1934–2013)
- Vitaliano Brancati (1907–1954)
- Gesualdo Bufalino (1920–1996)
- Aldo Busi (born 1948)
- Dino Buzzati (1906–1972), Il deserto dei Tartari (1940)
- Italo Calvino (1923–1985), Cosmicomics, If On a Winter's Night a Traveler (1979)
- Luigi Capuana (1839–1915)
- Andrea Camilleri (1925–2019)
- Carlo Cassola (1917–1987)
- Saveria Chemotti (born 1947)
- Carlo Collodi (1826–1890)
- Carmen Covito (born 1948)
- Gabriele D'Annunzio (1863–1938)
- Massimo D'Azeglio (1798–1866)
- Edmondo De Amicis (1846–1908)
- Grazia Deledda (1871–1936)
- Umberto Eco (1932–2016)
- Elena Ferrante
- Beppe Fenoglio (né Giuseppe)
- Antonio Fogazzaro (1842–1911)
- Carlo Emilio Gadda (1893–1973)
- Natalia Ginzburg (1916–1991)
- Primo Levi (1919–1987), chemist and novelist
- Emilio Lussu (1890–1975)
- Alessandro Manzoni (1785–1873)
- Dacia Maraini (born 1936)
- Franco Mimmi (born 1942)
- Elsa Morante (1912–1985)
- Alberto Moravia (1907–1990)
- Cesare Pavese (1908–1950)
- Luigi Pirandello (1867–1936), playwright, Six Characters in Search of an Author
- Vasco Pratolini (1913–1991)
- Andrea di Robilant
- Emilio Salgari (1862–1911)
- Alberto Savinio (1891–1952)
- Leonardo Sciascia (1921–1989)
- Ignazio Silone (1900–1978)
- Mario Soldati (1906–1999)
- Italo Svevo (1861–1928)
- Antonio Tabucchi (1943–2012), Pereira Declares (1994)
- Susanna Tamaro (born 1957)
- Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa (1896–1957), The Leopard
- Giovanni Verga (1840–1922)
- Elio Vittorini (1908–1966)
Pjeter Bogdani
Ali Podrimja
Azem Shkreli
Xhevdet Bajraj
- Giannina Braschi (born 1953), Yo-Yo Boing! (1998), and El imperio de los suenos/Empire of Dreams (1988).
- Luis López Nieves (born 1950), Seva (1984), Escribir para Rafa (1987), La verdadera muerte de Juan Ponce de León (2000), El corazón de Voltaire (2005)
- Andrey Bely (1880–1934)
- Andrey Bitov (1937–2018)
- Mikhail Bulgakov (1891–1940), author of The Master and Margarita
- Nikolai Chernyshevsky (1828–1889), author of What Is To Be Done?
- Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821–1881), author of The Brothers Karamazov, Crime and Punishment
- Gaito Gazdanov (1903–1971)
- Nikolai Gogol (1809–1852), author of Dead Souls
- Ivan Goncharov (1812–1891), Oblomov, a tale of a "superfluous" man
- Maxim Gorky (1868–1936)
- Anna Kashina, author of The Princess of Dhagabad
- Mikhail Lermontov (1814–1841)
- Leonid Leonov (1899–1994)
- Nikolai Leskov (1831–1895)
- Vladimir Makanin (1937–2017)
- Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977) early novels in Russian, later, including Lolita, in English.
- Boris Pasternak (1890–1960), refused the Nobel Prize for Literature, Doctor Zhivago
- Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837)
- Viatcheslav Repin (born 1960), author of novels, short stories and essays in Russian and French
- Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin (1826–1889)
- Ilia Shtemler (born 1933)
- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918–2008), One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
- Aleksey K. Tolstoy (1817–1875)
- Aleksey N. Tolstoy (1883–1945)
- Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910), author of War and Peace, Anna Karenina
- Ivan Turgenev (1818–1883)
- Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar, author of Saatleri Ayarlama Enstitüsü, Huzur
- Ahmet Ümit, author of Beyoğlu Rapsodisi
- Ayşe Kulin (born 1941)
- Aziz Nesin (1915–1995)
- Buket Uzuner (born 1955)
- Elif Şafak (born 1971)
- Haldun Taner (1915–1986)
- Halit Ziya Uşaklıgil, author of Mai ve Siyah, Aşkı Memnu
- Hasan Ali Toptaş (born 1958)
- Kemal Tahir, author of Yorgun Savaşçı, Devlet Ana, Karılar Koğuşu
- Metin Kaçan (1961–2013)
- Oğuz Atay (1934–1977), author of Tutunamayanlar
- Oktay Rifat (1914–1988)
- Orhan Kemal (1923–2015), author of Bekçi Murtaza,
- Orhan Pamuk, Nobel Prize author of My Name Is Red and The White Castle
- Reşat Nuri Güntekin (1889–1956)
- Rıfat Ilgaz (1911–1993)
- Sabahattin Ali (1907–1948), author of Kuyucaklı Yusuf, Kürk Mantolu Madonna
- Sevim Burak (1931–1983)
- Sabri Gürses (born 1972)
- Yahya Kemal (1884–1958)
- Yaşar Kemal (1923–2015), author of Mehmed, My Hawk
- Yunus Nadi Abalıoğlu (1879–1945)
- Yusuf Atilgan, author of Anayurt Oteli, Aylak Adam